DISNEY ON ICE 2017

We rushed from dance practice to Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream!

 It was not easy getting them to stand up straight (and not on their tip-toes), but here they are in order of age (8, 7, 6.5, 4.5). Those tiles are about 2 inches, so I'd guess that Will is about 2" taller than James who is 2" taller than Cora who is 6" taller than Lauren.

Last year's show had a lot of villians. This year it was all about the princesses (Snow White, Cinderella, and Rapunzel)!

 Gummy treats during intermission (souvenir from mama's trip out west).

Yes, Flynn Rider entered the ice suspended from a harness (just like in the movie), then proceeded to take Rapunzel on a harness-free soaring ride during the "best day ever" sequence. Yes, it was cool.

I think they all really enjoyed the show (I know I did!)

REHEARSAL SEASON!

Production number (the studio-wide finale) rehearsals for The Last Unicorn recital started this week (with hour long practices on Wednesday and Friday, and two hours today). The kids are pumped! James will be in both shows at his first ever recital (because the all-boy number needs him in both shows, thus he gets to do the production number twice as well, though Pre-Ballet will only be in the 6pm show) and since we'll be there all day anyway, Cora will be dancing in both production numbers as well. The kids will have hour long rehearsals every Friday from now until the recital (except next week, which will be on Thursday because of the Easter holiday weekend), with the potential for 1 or 2 more Saturday practices if needed. James loves dancing with the "big girls" as much as Cora does. It's going to be a busy 5 weeks, but it will be worth it for those smiles!

"There never was a happy ending because nothing ever ends"

DINNER ON THE RIVER

Mom and Dad drove up to Sacramento to take me out to dinner before I have to head home tomorrow. The weather was yucky (big storm rolled in off the coast), but we still enjoyed the view and the food, and I certainly enjoyed their company. I was very lucky to have so much time with family on this work trip!

10" STORM

While sitting at the vineyard yesterday afternoon, my phone rang with a Code Red Weather Alert, which was quickly followed by a text from Jay and my making a call to Jean (who was home with the kids while Jay was at a meeting, and I worried she wouldn't see the text, since the kids tend to keep her a tad bit busy when she visits). She had just made dinner, so she and the kids rushed to the bathroom to eat their ham and mac-n-cheese while the tornado warning passed.

 But then there was another tornado warning...

 And another...

 So they basically spent 3 hours trapped in the bathroom while I stressed about their safety from 2000 miles away. As soon as there was a break in the intensity of the storm (not that the storm stopped, but it slowed slightly for a short bit), Jay carefully made his way across town and arrived before the next deluge. They ended up losing power before bedtime (and it stayed out for about two and a half days because our substation flooded and there were trees down on lines all over town) and only the kids slept much overnight, since the rain continued to pound (they ended up getting 10" in the 12 hours of nonstop rain), the thunder and lightening kept up all night, and because I called Jay (in a near panic) as I drove up to Sacramento because I continued to get weather warnings (mostly flash flood warnings at that point) and hadn't heard from him (I didn't know he had gone to bed).

 Lack of power doesn't get them down! Gramma knows how to keep them busy ;-)

OAK FARM

My parents and I had plans to spend this afternoon with the Sanchez family (including Alex's two sisters). Today is Sophie's birthday! Originally we had planned to run a 14-mile trail race together today, but my injury and subsequent surgery called for a change of plans. Instead, we had lunch at a combo winery/brewery in Lodi called The Dancing Fox (their bottle labels are some of the prettiest and most creative I've seen, and the wine tasted good too - we received 3 free tastings with our lunch!), followed by wine tasting at Oak Farm Vineyards (where our kicky server, retired and working at the vineyard just because he likes it so much, brought us all 8 wines on the list to try - and yes, I bought a bottle of something extra fancy to bring home to share with Jay and Jean). It was a really nice and relaxing afternoon, just catching up and enjoying the beautiful weather.

 David and Taryn met us at the vineyard with Eli and Addy, so I made them take pictures with me (since we failed to do so at the BBQ - now I just need to take photos with my parents later this week!)

 I made sure to take a picture of Eli and Addy with Manu so I could show James and Cora. They said it was "Not fair!" that Manu got to see their cousins and that their cousins got to play with Manu. (The kids were SO GOOD while we did the wine tasting, just making friends and playing soccer in the big fence-enclosed field below the tasting deck.)

 They're totally adorable, right? I couldn't resist Addy with those braids and boots!

MISSED THE CROW: APRIL FOOLS SHOW

After dinner tonight I went out with Taryn and David to see his band perform at The Whiskey Barrel in downtown Stockton. They put on a good show and we stayed for the second band in the lineup before heading home to a late bedtime. I was pretty lucky to have my trip overlap with one of their gigs, since they only play a couple times per year!

 That's a lot of whiskey! I had a couple Whiskey Sours and David tried an Old Fashioned.

 That's one of David's band mates, Will, and his wife Rebecca. Fun couple!

CUBAREE 2017

Jay and Jean took the kids to the Cub Scout Cubaree this weekend (I'm in California for a training course - I left for the airport after James' play and a couple hours back at work). The weather was perfect Friday night and Saturday, the camp out had a Farm theme (no, Jay did not bring home a baby goat), and the kids loved getting to run and play and camp out, and to participate in Scout activities such as archery, shooting, climbing, and hiking.

 Friday night card games

 Jay must have woken up first on Saturday...

Yes, Cora likes to wear Cub Scout shirts/sweatshirts when she's out with the boys (though she did have a couple of buddies to hang with, including Ainsley from dance class).

Gathering wood for the evening's bonfires. Jay says that James was the drill sergeant marching them in and that all the kids loved his chants. I was also told that Cora was a huge hit with all the little boys and that Jean overheard them telling each other that they wished they had a cool sister like her that would play with them. (She had joined in games of tag and whatnot with the boys because the two girls from our Den that she'd been playing with had gone off on their bikes.) The kids joined the dance party when they arrived at the closing ceremony, as they awaited the arrival of all 1000 people!

 What's a camp out without a bonfire to end the night?!

They had packed up their tent and other items earlier in the day so they could head home after the closing ceremonies. Bad weather is expected tomorrow, so it made sense to get home well in advance of the storm. I hear the kids slept the whole way home, and James walked over 22,000 steps (with Cora in a close second at 17,000!)

FAMILY TIME

Just a quick picture with Grandma after a quiet day at home visiting with family and enjoying dad's BBQ skills. It was so good to see everyone! (Even though Eli and Addy couldn't believe I was there WITHOUT James and Cora - I assured them they were home with their daddy and other Gramma and probably not missing me much, though they would definitely be jealous when they found out I spent the day with their cousins!)